aren't the roses pretty tonight
by thyme spirit
Summary: Ichigo x Rukia - He stained the white roses red, and under the black, black sky; "aren't the roses pretty?" She was a fading lie, and the clock was ticking. Time is running out. Hurry Ichigo, hurry.


_AN: They really should have a "dark" genre. xD Special thanks to x0SilverFeathersx0 for beta-ing._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach._

**aren't the roses pretty tonight**

_**-x-**_

The rose petals stained in blood are falling. Falling, falling, falling, just like her sanity. Who was it that stained the rose? Who in the world was the cause of poor little princess Rukia's breakdown? Surely not her beloved Ichigo. Surely not kind ol' Ichigo who promised never to cause her harm.

Never innocent little Ichigo.

_**-x-**_

_"You… you killed him! Your own brother!"_

_**-x-**_

Every night she wakes up screaming.

Her eyes are wide and scared, and she trembles all over.

Even though she's awake, she always shrieks and shouts for the nightmares to end.

Every night he sits there and comforts her, holding her even as she hits him, until she lapses back into unconsciousness and has no more dreams. _That's how their relationship works._

She always wonders where he gets the bruises from in the morning.

_**-x-**_

"_I will never forgive you!"_

_**-x-**_

"Kuchiki-san, someone is here to see you."

The petite girl wrapped in bandages turned toward them, and he couldn't remember a time when he had felt happier than now. He wanted to sweep her up in his arms and cry and cry and _cry_ until there was nothing left, because she was _**fine**_. Because she didn't look like she was going to fall apart. Because she was still in one piece.

(He has never felt more selfish as he wonders if she could tape his shattered heart back together.)

But life never gave joy so easily, and all he was given instead was a puzzled look. "Who are you?"

He should have expected that.

_**-x-**_

_"The trauma made her forget, Kurosaki-dono."_

_**-x-**_

He tells her his name.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," she tests it on her tongue. "Did I… know you?"

Did she know him? How could she, when he didn't even know himself.

"Yes," he tells her, because what else is there to say?

Her beautiful, warm amethyst eyes meet his. "We must've been good friends before I lost my memories!"

_Deeper_ went the dagger lodged within his heart, as she stated what they once _had _been—before he betrayed her—_with a __**smile**_. (It was now that he was uncertain, whether naivety was really a good thing.)

"Why do you say that?"

She smiled brightly at him.

"Because your name reminds me of happiness."

_**-x-**_

_"We used to be the best of friends, you know, before I killed your lover."_

_**-x-**_

"Did I love anyone?" she says to him one day.

"Why do you want to know?" he asks, because this was the question he dreaded the most.

"Just answer it," she insists.

As if he could deny her anything.

"Yes," he tells her, reluctant. "You did."

_**-x-**_

"_I'm sorry, I was the one to destroy your heart."_

_**-x-**_

"Was it you who I loved?" she wonders aloud in their garden of roses.

He doesn't know what to say, so he stays silent. A premature bud catches his eye. The petals are vividly red. Red, like blood. Red, like the blade when he stabbed it in Kaien's heart. And, inadvertently, Rukia's too.

Everything reminds him of his betrayal.

"Ichigo," her voice is commanding, just how he always remembered it, and it hits him right in the heart because that's how she spoke when everything was still whole and nothing was broken. "Did I love you?"

She is giving him the opening he always wanted, giving him the key to all his hopes. And like the selfish person he is, he steals from the Truth and runs. Runs and runs and _runs_, down into the abyss of deception.

"Yes," he lies. "You did."

_**-x-**_

"_I deserve heartbreak, and more, but you offered me a second chance at the expense of my soul."_

_**-x-**_

"Did you love me back?"

For once he's telling her the truth, and he is glad. "Yes."

"How much?"

"More than the world itself."

_**-x-**_

"_Of course I took it."_

_**-x-**_

He lies beside her in bed.

"Ichigo?" her voice is soft, defenseless.

A small frown is on her face and she is looking anywhere but at him as she pulls the covers around her tighter. He likes to think they are the only things separating him from her, but he is just fooling himself. "Did you… hurt me?"

He closes his eyes and wonders. Was this his reward for the dark, black selfishness that took a hold of his soul?

"No," he tells her, because he thinks he can twist the truth a little. _(It__ wasn't __**her**__ he ruthlessly killed,_ he chants in his mind, _not her_.)

All worry escapes her face as her lips tilt up. "Of course not, what was I thinking!" She laughs as she reprimands herself. She gazes into his eyes, looking as young and guileless as she once was, and smiles. "You would never hurt me."

He smiles back, and holds her closer, but when he leans forward to kiss her forehead, he thinks she is too innocent and pure for his lips to taint.

_**-x-**_

"_Love reminds me of sadness… but Ichigo would never break my heart!"_

_**-x-**_

Every night she wakes up screaming.

He holds her tight as she sobs into his chest. And just for a moment she remembers.

She takes in whom he is and shrieks, terrified, before she blinks once, and twice, and all he is left with is to tell her, it's just a nightmare.

_**Just a nightmare.**_

She never remembers anything in the morning.

_**-x-**_

"_Not all knights are saviors, Rukia."_

_**-x-**_

The clock is ticking once, and twice, and three times, and time is running out for Ichigo who is so desperately trying to piece back together what he broke. Hurry, Ichigo, hurry. Time is running out.

Tick, tick, tick.

_**-x- **_

_**fin**_

AN: Hmm it's a little confusing isn't it? I had this entire multi chaptered story planned out in my mind but then I thought, I will never complete yet another chaptered fanfic, so here's a snippet. You may interpret the story however you wish to. But if you want to read the plot overview, PM me I'll send it to you.

Reviews are love.


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